Motivate Shoppers with Social Proof Notifications

Playbook Theme: Demand Notifications
Business Goal: Conversion
Effort: Low
Prerequisite: Synced product feed

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The fear of missing out is real: Shoppers are motivated to purchase when confronted with the knowledge that an item is on sale for only a limited time, low in stock, or in high demand. Brands can capitalize on this by incorporating demand messaging into their e-commerce strategy, highlighting important information to keep visitors in the loop. This can be in the form of product badges, notifications, push notifications, messaging, and more. In a reality where presenting a perfect value proposition isn’t always enough, grasping the psychology behind consumer decisions is key to driving sales and increasing conversions. 

Before creating your social proof notification, we encourage you to consider how you want to leverage the data. Here are a couple of popular conversion motivation strategies: 

Increasing the product's perceived value 

Use shopper behavior to lend credibility to your product and reduce the barrier to purchase.

• “You’ve got great taste! {Number of viewers} shoppers are checking out this same item.”
• "Trending product. One of the hottest picks this week."
• "Customer favorite. Over {number of purchasers} people have bought this item just this week."

Generate a sense of urgency  
Use shopper behavior to induce a sense of scarcity and urgency.

• "Going fast! {Product purchases} orders already this week." 
• "Don’t wait. {Product views} shoppers are checking out this same item."
• Trending product: {Product purchases} orders this week. Don’t wait, because stock is
  limited."

Step 1: Create a notification campaign

There are various campaign types to choose from when creating a personalized experience on your site. Because this scenario is about triggering a subtle message, this example uses a notification campaign. 

1. Go to Web Personalization › New Campaign and click Notification.
2. Name the campaign (for example, "Social Proof Notification"). A clear name enables you to manage the campaign later. You can also add Notes and Labels for the same reason.
3. Select the notification's position on the screen. 
4. Set External component to Dynamic Yield Data.
   
   Note: In Dynamic Content and Recommendations, add the Dynamic Yield data in Advanced Settings › Wait for Element.
   
5. In Frequency, select how often the visitor should see the notification (say, Once per pageview). 
6. Click Next to add a targeted experience

Step 2: Add a targeted experience

All campaigns are comprised of experiences. Each experience can target different visitors with different content. In this scenario, set the targeting to meet page popularity thresholds, to ensure you aren't prompting social proof notifications on unpopular products. 

1. Assign a Name to the experience. Use a name that clearly defines this experience (like Product Views). 
2. Define the targeting conditions:
   
   • Who: Maintain the default value of all users. 
     
   • Where:  
     • To ensure that you display the notification for products with strong performance, add a condition of either:
       Product popularity (viewed) › by more than › X users in the past [time frame].
       Or, Product popularity (purchased) by more than › X users in the past [time frame].
       
     • To make certain that you display social proof only for products that are in stock, add a condition of: Product page › product with property › in stock › true. 
   • When: Unless you want to limit the exposure of the banner to a particular date and time, you can leave this with its default value, All the time.
3. Click Next.

Step 3: Design the notification

Variations include the actual content you'll serve for each experience. You can create a single variation or multiple variations, and test or optimize which variation most resonates with your audience. 

1. Click New Variation.
2. Expand the Dynamic Yield template collection and select the Social Proof template. 
3. Assign a Name to the variation that describes the content (for example, Urgency). This name is shown in the reports and enables you to distinguish between the success of one variation over another. 
4. Every Dynamic Yield template is comprised of variables to enable you to make changes without a developer’s intervention. Customize the variable fields according to your preferences. Make sure your content corresponds to the selected targeting rule. Meaning, if you chose to target according to product views, make sure your product performance and the notification text relate to views as well. 
5.  Click Save Variation. 

Note: Looking for a different design? Feel free to edit the HTML, CSS, or JS of the Dynamic Yield template, adjust it, and save your own template.

Step 4: Measure uplift by activating a control group

Establishing a control group is essential for measuring uplift generated by any Dynamic Yield experience, because the control group represents visitors who either receive no variation or a random variation.

1. Select the Allocation › A/B Test to test between the variation you created in the previous step and a control group. 
2. As the primary metric, use Add to Cart. This is the most immediate user interaction that you want to promote. Don't worry, you'll be able to see revenue per user, AOV, and purchases per user in the report as a secondary metric. 
3. Allocate the number of users to receive the control and the variation.
4. Click Save Experience.